Jesse Mecham, You Need a Budget: The Proven System for Breaking the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle, Getting Out of Debt, and Living the Life You Want

In this book, Jesse Mecham, the creator of YouNeedABudget.com, gives an overview of his budgeting system and — perhaps more importantly — his philosophy of budgeting. His four main budgeting principles are (1) give every dollar a job, (2) embrace your true expenses, (3) roll with the punches, and (4) age your money. Using anecdotes from his own life and from users of the YNAB software, Mecham explains these principles in depth and describes how they can help people get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and save money for the priorities that matter most to them.

This book felt very accessible to me (a person who is relatively ignorant of all things finance); it’s a quick read, not at all technical, and it offers a very big-picture look at why budgeting is important. I was struck by this quote from the beginning of the book: “[M]oney is not the point, not the end goal. In truth, when we’re stressed about our finances, it’s because we’re not sure our money decisions are aligned with the life we want to be living.” Mecham’s point, which really resonated with me, is that budgeting is about putting your money toward the goals and priorities that really matter to you. I definitely got a lot out of this book and found it very useful in preparing my own budget going forward. I’d recommend this to people who feel like they should be doing more with their money but don’t know quite where to start.